The distribution of digital content such as electronic books, audio, video, etc. is increasingly taking place over the Internet and other distribution channels. Digital content when acquired is typically accompanied by a digital license with license terms that grant a user the right to access and render the digital content. In one scenario, the digital content and digital license are included together in a single file or the like, while in another scenario the digital content and digital license are in separate files or the like.
In either scenario, and as may be appreciated, such license terms may grant broad rights to render the content, such as for example an unlimited number of times in perpetuity, or may grant narrow rights to render the content, such as for example a fixed number of times during a fixed period of time. The license itself may be tied to the user and may allow rendering on any computing device of the user capable of such rendering, or may be tied to a specific computing device or persona and thus allow rendering only on such computing device or persona.
One example of an architecture for providing digital rights management based on a digital license is set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/290,363, filed Apr. 12, 1999 and entitled “ENFORCEMENT ARCHITECTURE AND METHOD FOR DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT”, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/126,614, filed Mar. 27, 1999 and entitled “ENFORCEMENT ARCHITECTURE AND METHOD FOR DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT”, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Another example of such an architecture is set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/604,564, filed Jun. 27, 2000 and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACTIVATING A RENDERING DEVICE IN A MULTI-LEVEL RIGHTS-MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/604,540, filed Jun. 27, 2000 and entitled “SERVER FOR AN ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OPERATING”, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/604,543, filed Jun. 27, 2000 and entitled “INDIVIDUALIZED SECURE REPOSITORY AND SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING SAME”, each of which is also hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In the aforementioned situation where the license is tied to the user, the license is typically not transferable to another user. Correspondingly, in the aforementioned situation where the license is tied to the user's computing device, the license is typically not transferable to another computing device. That is to say, and with regard to either situation, the digital license and the corresponding digital content may be physically transferable, but because of the tying, the digital license will refuse to allow rendering at the transferred-to location. Put simply, according to the tied digital license and/or the terms therein, the transferred-to location does not have the right to render the corresponding digital content anywhere other than the tied-to location and therefore is prevented from doing so.
In the situation where the tied digital license does not provide the right to render the corresponding digital content at transferred-to location, be it another user or another computing device, it has heretofore been the situation in at least some instances that the user at the transferred-to location is informed of the lack of the right to render, and the attempt to render is then terminated without more. To say the least, such an experience is frustrating to the user. More importantly, an opportunity to provide (i.e., sell) an appropriate digital license to the user at the location is missed.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method and mechanism for providing referral information in the digital license. More particularly, a need exists for such referral information that is employed after a failed attempt to render at a transferred-to location or other failed attempts to render, and refers a user to a site where the user can obtain an appropriate license.